DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 30th April 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Singaporeans’ share of local home purchases surges in Q1
Singaporeans’ deep-seated desire for home ownership has seen them snap up the biggest share of residential properties versus foreigners in a decade. About 79 per cent of private apartments went to Singaporeans in the first quarter of this year, the most since the first three months of 2009, according to property consultants OrangeTee & Tie.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singaporeans-share-of-local-home-purchases-surges-in-q1

Sim Lim Square up for en bloc sale with S$1.25b reserve price
Electronics shopping mall Sim Lim Square in Rochor Canal Road has been put up for collective sale via public tender at a reserve price of S$1.25 billion, marketing agent SLP International Property Consultants announced on Monday. Its initial asking price in March last year had been S$1.1 billion.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/sim-lim-square-up-for-en-bloc-sale-with-s125b-reserve-price-0
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/sim-lim-square-up-for-collective-sale-with-125b-reserve-price-0

Call for ideas to revamp Marina Bay floating platform into NS Square
The Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority will launch a call for an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the re-development of the Marina Bay floating platform some time in the second quarter of 2019. The plan is to transform the structure – first built as a temporary stage back in 2007 – into a permanent space called NS Square.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/call-for-ideas-to-revamp-marina-bay-floating-platform-into-ns-square
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/marina-bay-floating-platform-ns-square-redevelopment-ideas-11487832
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/call-ideas-redevelopment-marina-bay-floating-platform

Singapore Economy

Singapore, China forge closer ties on trade, Belt and Road projects
Singapore and China signed five agreements on Monday, drawing closer in their collaboration on trade, law enforcement and projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The deals were inked after Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Earlier, Mr Lee also met President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-china-forge-closer-ties-on-trade-belt-and-road-projects
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/china-wants-friendship-with-singapore-to-continue-after-successor-takes-over-pm
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/singapore-china-ink-deals-on-trade-bri
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/spore-china-ties-will-remain-warm-under-new-leaders-pm
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/pm-meets-top-chinese-leaders-discusses-areas-for-tie-ups
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-china-sign-5-deals-to-boost-cooperation-in-economy-11487764
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pm-lee-hsien-loong-china-xi-jinping-relations-11488470
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-and-china-reaffirm-longstanding-ties

Companies’ Brief

CDL Hospitality Trusts posts 3.7% lower Q1 DPS at 2.09 Singapore cents
Total distribution per stapled security (DPS) for CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) declined 3.7 per cent to 2.09 Singapore cents for the first quarter to March 31, from 2.17 Singapore cents a year ago. Total distribution to stapled securityholders, after retention for working capital, stood at S$25.3 million, down 3.0 per cent from S$26.1 million for the year-ago period.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/cdl-hospitality-trusts-posts-37-lower-q1-dps-at-209-singapore-cents

Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust’s Q4 DPU up 2.7%
Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (MNACT) on Monday posted a 2.7 per cent rise in distribution per unit (DPU) to 1.956 Singapore cent for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2019. Contribution from the trust’s new Japan properties and higher rental income from Festival Walk in Hong Kong, and Gateway Plaza and Sandhill Plaza in China drove growth in revenue and net property income (NPI) for the quarter, as well as for the full year.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/mapletree-north-asia-commercial-trusts-q4-dpu-up-27

Keppel Corp to raise S$500m via two note issues
Conglomerate Keppel Corporation has priced the issue of its S$150 million 3 per cent notes due 2024 and S$350 million 3.66 per cent notes due 2029, it said on Monday night after the market closed. They are expected to be issued on or about May 7, 2019, and are expected to be listed on the Singapore Exchange on or about the following business day after the issue.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/keppel-corp-to-raise-s500m-via-two-note-issues

Keppel Capital’s fund buys 3 Grade A commercial buildings
Keppel Capital’s Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund III fund (AAMTF III) is buying three Grade A commercial buildings in Seoul’s business districts for KRW 430 billion (S$504.7 million) from a Korean asset management company. Keppel Investment Management, the asset management arm of Keppel Capital in South Korea, will be appointed the local asset manager for the three buildings, which are all freehold.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/keppel-capitals-fund-buys-3-grade-a-commercial-buildings

A-Reit’s DPU rises 6.1% in Q4; it plans to rejuvenate some assets
Ascendas Reit (A-Reit), which recorded a 6.1 per cent rise in distribution per unit (DPU) to 4.148 Singapore cents for the fourth quarter ended March 31, said it is looking at ways to rejuvenate some its assets to strengthen its portfolio. The quarter was boosted by contributions from newly acquired properties in the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as two redeveloped properties in Singapore.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/a-reits-dpu-rises-61-in-q4-it-plans-to-rejuvenate-some-assets

Ascott Reit DPU rises 7% to 1.45 Singapore cents for Q1
Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) on Tuesday reported a 7 per cent rise in its distribution per unit (DPU) to 1.45 Singapore cents for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, from 1.35 Singapore cents a year ago. After the Singapore-listed hospitality trust adjusted for one-off items, the adjusted DPU was 4 per cent higher at 1.33 Singapore cents compared to 1.28 Singapore cents previously.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/ascott-reit-dpu-rises-7-to-145-singapore-cents-for-q1
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/riady-scion-steadies-lippo-with-focus-on-property-healthcare

Riady scion steadies Lippo with focus on property, healthcare
When news broke last month that Mr John Riady had been appointed to head Indonesia’s biggest property and retail conglomerate, Lippo Karawaci, it came with an implicit challenge from group founder, Mr Riady’s grandfather, Mochtar Riady, to disprove the old adage that fortunes are lost after three generations. In Lippo’s case, this would prove particularly challenging. In the months before the company announced Mr Riady’s appointment, it was mired in a corruption scandal and suffered a series of credit downgrades.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/riady-scion-steadies-lippo-with-focus-on-property-healthcare

WeWork files for IPO valued at US$47b, joining wave of cash-burning start-ups going public
New York (nytimes) – Over nine years, WeWork has grown from one work space in Manhattan into a global empire of trendily designed shared offices, business services and more. Now WeWork is hoping that public investors believe the company can eventually turn a profit from that vision.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/wework-files-for-ipo-valued-at-us47b-joining-wave-of-cash-burning-start

Manulife US Reit’s US$122m office play
Manulife US Reit is buying two office towers in Virginia for US$122 million – funded mostly in equity, with about one-third to come from debt. The pure-play office real estatement investment trust (Reit) is buying the freehold Centerpointe I & II development from US-based Carr Properties, said the manager on Monday.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/manulife-us-reits-us122m-office-play

KBS Prime US Reit plans up to US$705 million IPO in June
KBS Realty Advisors, the US-based real estate private equity firm which has been eyeing a second Reit listing in Singapore since last year, is reaching out to investors again with plans to list KBS Prime US Reit in June. The initial public offering (IPO) could raise up to US$705 million, giving Prime US Reit a market capitalisation of around US$840 million on its debut, according to revised deal terms seen by The Business Times.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/kbs-prime-us-reit-plans-up-to-us705-million-ipo-in-june

DBS Q1 mortgage book shrinks for first time in years
DBS Group Holdings, the nation’s largest home loan provider, saw its mortgage book shrink for the first time in years in the first quarter of 2019, chief executive Piyush Gupta said on Monday. “The negative quarter was the first time in many, many years,” Mr Gupta said during the bank’s results announcement.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/banking-finance/dbs-q1-mortgage-book-shrinks-for-first-time-in-years
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/dbs-mortgage-book-shrinks-for-first-time-in-years-on-cooling-measures
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/dbs-posts-record-profit-on-lending-gains–raises-bar-for-singapore-banks-11487046
https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/dbs-posts-record-quarterly-profit-powered-lending-income

Debao unit to sell stake in loss-making Malaysia business for 4m yuan
Debao Property Development is proposing to sell a 43 per cent stake in Malaysia’s Profit Consortium (PC) for four million yuan (S$808,793) to Chinese management services firm Guangzhou Xu Zhuo Enterprise Management. Debao, a Singapore-based developer of residential and commercial properties in China, intends to use the entire proceeds from the proposed disposal for working capital, it said in an exchange filing on Monday before the market opened.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/debao-unit-to-sell-stake-in-loss-making-malaysia-business-for-4m-yuan
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/debao-unit-to-sell-stake-in-loss-making-malaysia-business-profit

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Commentary: Why residential property prices won’t be coming down despite cooling measures
Singapore: Prior to the latest cooling measures introduced in July 2018, the last time similar regulations were rolled out to moderate the residential private property market was in 2013 with the introduction of the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR). The TDSR sought to encourage financial prudence among borrowers and strengthen credit underwriting practices by financial institutions…
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/singapore-residential-property-prices-lower-higher-2019-2020-11476638